We return with the bouillabaisse of sound that is Maison Dufrene 4 – a vintage serving of southern soul, r&b, country, blues, gospel and beyond.The fourth of an ongoing collaboration with Louisiana record collector, dj and musicologist, Paul Dufrene.

It’s only been a few short weeks since we introduced Emmylou Harris’s 70’s Studio Album Collection and 80’s Studio Album Collection to our digital catalog, but now it’s time to bring something from Ms. Harris’s catalog to CD…or, more specifically, to bring it back to CD.

In 2007, we put out a pretty cool Emmylou Harris box set entitled Songbird: Rare Tracks & Forgotten Gems, one which featured 78 tracks, all hand-chosen by the singer-songwriter herself. At the time of its initial release, Emmylou said of its contents, "I've selected not greatest hits but personal favorites that – with a few exceptions – have never appeared on any other compilations, but were important gems in the string of pearls that each album strives to become.” In addition, the set also included a handful of contributions she’d made to different tribute albums, various and sundry live and demo tracks, and a few collaborations.

1) If you’re a fan of director Noah Baumbach, you could have seen him in three – count ‘em – three of Baumbach’s films (Kicking and Screaming, Highball, and Mr. Jealousy), and if you’re a really big fan, you might even have spotted him in Baumbach’s short film, Conrad & Butler Take a Vacation.

2) Fans of NBC’s Must-See TV may recall that he played Christina Applegate’s brother on her late-‘90s sitcom, Jesse.
3) From 2006 to 2009, he played Leslie Pool, owner/manager of the grocery store Greens & Grains, on TBS’s mockumentary-style, improv-driven sitcom 10 Items or Less, which he also co-created and executive-produced.
4) In 2011, he joined forces with Crackle to co-create – along with his longtime writing partner, Nancy Hower – and star in the prison comedy JailBait, another improv-driven affair, this one about a guy who tries to buy marijuana for his cancer-stricken father, only to find himself caught up in a sting operation and put behind bars.
5) Since 2013, he’s been working for Hulu, starring as John Henry Hoyle, sheriff of Great Bend, Kansas in 1875, in the improv western comedy, Quick Draw, which kicked off its second season just last week.

We certainly aren’t going to be the only ones wishing country legend Willie Nelson a happy 81st birthday today – once you reach a point in your career where people are describing you as a “country legend,” you’re generally not short on good tidings on the day of your birth – but the man’s accomplished so much in his life, written so many great songs, and scored so many big hits that we’re also not going to try to sum up his career in a few paragraphs, because we’d never do in justice in the small space allotted.

What we will do, however, is spotlight a box set that features two albums which, even in a field of competition that features dozens of classic LPs, stand tall as some of the greatest work Willie’s ever done: The Complete Atlantic Sessions.

After having some troubles with his contract negotiations with RCA, Willie had an encounter with Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records which led to a record deal and, in 1973, an album entitled Shotgun Willie. Produced mostly by Arif Mardin, aside from a couple of Bob Wills covers helmed by Wexler (“Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)” and “Bubbles in My Beer”), Shotgun Willie helped define the “outlaw country” sound, introducing audiences to Nelson’s take on Johnny Bush’s “Whiskey River” as well as his own instant classic, “Sad Songs and Waltzes.”

Last Tuesday, Willie Nelson turned eighty years old. If you happen to have caught him live lately, that might take you by surprise. Willie won’t be the first touring octogenarian — Ralph Stanley’s still on the road at 86; Chuck Berry, who is the same age, is still banging around St. Louis; and Yoko Ono, 80, was alive and screaming on last year’s collaboration with Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore. Even the Old Possum George Jones made the rounds right up to his death last week at the age of 81.

The "Red Headed Stranger" took a little time to sign six strings and posters for adoring fans at Austin's SXSW. Willie also hit the red carpet for the SXSW premiere of his Christmas comedy When Angels Sing which happens to feature a few other crooners you may have heard of... Harry Connick Jr., Lyle Lovett, and Kris Kristofferson.